Lent is a Sacrament?

Last week, we were quizzing the boys about what they had done and learned about in Religious Education. Jack offered up a lot of information, but Noah kept shrugging and saying he couldn't remember.

We then went on to threaten Noah (in the nicest way possible) that he would not be able to play any video games when we got home if he couldn't tell us at least one thing.

He then said, "Ummmm...Lent is a, um, sacrament...a holy sacrament...and, um, sacraments are holy," he then paused and continued, "Am I getting close?"

"Not even kind of," I told him. We then discussed that Lent was not a sacrament, and reminded him of what the sacraments are. We also laid down the law that there would, indeed, be no games that night.

Four days later, the kids and I went to the grocery store, and Jack & Molly insisted on getting stuffed animals. (Jack paid for his own with allowance money.) One of them picked a bunny and another picked a lamb. (It was from an Easter display.)

As we were able to walk away, I stopped everyone and said, "Wait! Who is the Lamb of God?"

It was then that I saw what my children would look like if they were deer in headlights. I don't think they didn't know the answer, but it was more the delivery of my question that threw them for a loop.

Noah then took a deep breath and said, "Ummm...Jesus?"

"Good job," I told him.

His shoulders then relaxed and he let out a long and loud sigh of relief before saying, "Whew -- finally I remembered something!"

13 of the bands/singers that appear most on my iPod (Thursday Thirteen #3)

Thirteen Bands/Singers that Appear Most on My iPodThese are in no particular order and are just kind of picking 13 from a larger list of top most appearing bands/singers -- there was a multi place tie, and so I just put all of the ones that were obvious winners, and then randomly picked from the ones that were in a tie.

1. U2

2. The Beatles

3. Barenaked Ladies

4. The Cranberries

5. The La's

6. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

7. James

8. Jars of Clay

9. Duran Duran

10. 10,000 Maniacs

11. Matchbox Twenty

12. They Might Be Giants

13. The Cure

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WFMW: Another wardrobe edition!

I had fun writing last week on the Works for Me Wednesday about some wardrobe tips (Choosing and Simplifying Your Wardrobe), and so I thought I would write up this week's WFMW in response to some of the inquiries that were left in the comment section. I hope these tips help -- because they work for me!

How do you know which colors are YOUR colors? (As advised in the other post to find your colors)

First off, it might be a good idea to think of outfits that you wear where people say to you, "You look great today." Notice this is not, "What a cute outfit." You're looking for what makes YOU look good, not what outfit looks good. Check to see if some of these clothes are the same color. If they are, then that is probably a good color for you.

Another great place to look are your eyes and hair. Can you grab inspiration for your good colors from here? Blue is not one of the colors I mentioned as "my colors," but when I wear the right shade of blue, people comment on my eyes more. (My eyes appear more blue than usual at those times, since I normally have kind of grey-ish eyes.)

Again, thinking of this, one of the reasons I like brown is that I try to look for shades of brown that compliment my auburn-ish color hair.

Also, check out your complexion. For me, I have a reddish complexion. It's not always too noticeable. But, heaven forbid I wear red, it looks like I am constantly blushing or way too hot.

Here is some interesting information about choosing what color you should wear.

What's the best way to clean out your closet/drawers?

We've all read these tips -- if it doesn't fit, donate it to someone to whom it will bless. But, just because it fits, it doesn't mean that you should keep it either. I'm bad about that. It fits, so let it stay. No, don't do it.

The last time I did a serious, serious, serious purge, I took everything out of my closet and drawers. Then, I took time to really look at each piece and asked myself these questions --

1. Does it fit?

2. Is it a good color for me?

3. Is it flattering on me?

4. Have I worn it lately?

So, then I had to really think on each piece of clothing. If it didn't fit, I got rid of it (Goodwill). I got rid of all those things that just aren't good colors on me. (A lot of these were hand me downs from someone else, or things that were just great deals or whatever.)

I had to then be pretty darn honest for the next one. I had to put on some things that I hadn't worn in a while and some of them made me say, "Yikes! I look horrible -- why do I have this???" It's a good idea to decide that you are going to take the time to try on everything that you think you want to keep.

Okay...now there's that old rule about if you haven't worn it in a year, get rid of it. I don't do that. But, I do look at the piece of clothing and really honestly say to myself, "Seriously -- am I going to wear it again? Really?" Because, I have to say, I sometimes go a few years without wearing something, and then all of the sudden, I start wearing it again. Go figure.

Of course, I think things like that black dress and the like are exempt from that year rule anyway. If you have a nice dress that looks great that you can grab at the last minute for a nice occasion, absolutely do NOT get rid of it. (Even if you haven't worn it in five years. But, again -- try it on before it goes back into the closet!)

I have a purple hoodie sweater that I literally got about eight to ten years ago and never wore. But, I held on to it. I liked it, I just didn't wear it. Well -- guess what I have been wearing lately? Of course, it's the hoodie. Go figure. That's me though. If you don't think you would go back and wear something you haven't worn in a year, donate it all.

Anything else?

We organize all closets in our house by type of clothing, not by outfits. The only except is that in Molly's closet, two piece outfits are on the same hanger and go with the tops (which are separated into two groups -- long sleeve and short sleeve). This tip helps me more in the morning with my kids than it actually helps me. I love that I can find all of the pants in one area, all of the shirts in another. (In the boys' closet, I actually have it go: short sleeve shirts, pants, long sleeve shirts, just so the pants can be a natural divider between shirt types.)

Okay...whew...that's it! I hope that some of these tips help!

But, if they don't, be sure to check out all the other great tips and ideas at Works for Me Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday: Kids Get All the Important Pictures from Vacations

Couldn't help but post another shot from eight year old Noah (just like last week) of a holiday trip. His pictures include such fine things as this one and last week, as well as things like the hotel toliet and sprinkler system.

Wordless Wednesday is hosted at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Reading Grade Based on Crayon Skills

I was pretty irritated while unloading things from Noah's take home folder after school the other day.

One of his reading worksheets is one that he has done before. This particular worksheet is one that has six definitions on it from the story they are focusing on that week. They must write their own sentence using the vocabulary word, write down the number of the page they found it on, and then draw a picture to illustrate their sentence. Okay, so I'm fine with this so far.

The one that just came home had a score of 67% -- a D. He lost six points on this paper. The only notation for why he missed those six points? "Did Not Color," it says.

Yes, his grade on this reading worksheet is a D. He had great sentences for each definition with proper puncuation and capitalization. He had correct page numbers written for where he found the words in the story. Heck -- he even had nice illustrations. But, those illustrations were only pencil drawings, not colored in. (This is something I am sure he has done before without any penalty.)

Apparently ability to color in pictures is very vital to reading, and is, in fact, so imperative that it deserves losing one-third of the entire points for an assignment.

I decided to write a note, but then thought, "Hey -- it's just a worksheet, and anything I write won't make a difference." So, I just set it on the counter and decided not to worry about it.

Well...until I ended up writing a note asking for the exact breakdown of how points are distributed on this assignment, as well as an explanation as to why points have never been deducted before for not coloring. It probably won't make a difference, but it made me feel better. We'll see what comes out of it.

(Oh -- I do feel the need to point out that: (1) I would have been okay if he had lost some points if they had specifically been given directions to color but then didn't, and, well...(2) He actually has a one-on-one aide who probably should have pointed out to him that he needed to color if that had been told to him, since part of why he has an aide is to keep him on task.)

Sure...I just posted this, and then got a call from his teacher because of the note I wrote on the paper when I sent it back in. So, I would be remiss to not edit this and add a follow up. The paper was graded by his student teacher, and they have adjusted the score now. Apparently the student teacher meant to check with his teacher about it, but then didn't get a chance to. Although they do take off points for not coloring for other children, they do not for Noah. So...they are fixing him up from a D to an A+ on that worksheet, and the teacher was very pleased that I contacted her about it.

Menu Plan Monday: February 25th Edition

Monday: Sandwiches

Tuesday: Orangey Asian Chicken (prepared at Dream Dinners)

Wednesday: Frozen Pizza

Thursday: Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken & Broccoli

Friday: Unsure right now

Not Quite Red Hot Monogamy

I saw the book Red Hot Monogamy at the library, and I decided to pick it up. Before I even had a chance to look at it, Eric was working on reading through it. (I suspect with the title, I shouldn't have been surprised by that.)

I finally cracked it open and got about 15 pages into it. Really -- I have to admit, it was a bit over the top to me. Even Eric commented that he thought it was too. (It seemed to both of us that it was suggesting intimate relations just about any time you could sneak away for them. Like...as often as possible.)

I joked to Eric and said something about our "red hot monogamy." We both laughed. And, then, as an homage to my ranting to him several days before about the temperature of my hot chocolate from Starbucks, Eric declared that perhaps it was more like "tepid monogamy," (which is what I had described said hot chocolate to be). I am blessed that when he said this, it was with a jovial tone, and not with scorn like it might have come from some men.

Well...at least he should look on the bright side. It least it isn't blustery monogamy.

Getting Nervous in Church

During one week day Mass not long ago, the homily was directed to the children there, as there were a couple of religious education classes in attendance.

One of the readings had been about Jonah and his visit to Ninevah.

Father then asked the children if they remembered what happened before Jonah had gone to Ninevah.

One child's hand shot up, only for him to declare, "I forgot," when he was called on.

Then, our very own Jack raised his hand.

I got nervous, unsure of what might come out of his mouth.

Father called on him, and then Jack looked at me to answer. I said to him, "You were the one who raised your hand, you answer."

Jack then paused for a minute and then said, "God told a message to Jonah over and over, but Jonah didn't want to listen."

I was almost ashamed when I got kudos from several people around us for Jack's answer. I smiled politely.

Truth was -- he was as likely to give the answer that he did as he was to say that Jonah was an asperagus that rode on a pirate ship where they played Go Fish to see who had to be thrown overboard.

So, thanks to the Veggie Tales for making me look like a good Mom, and thanks to God for sending the Holy Spirit upon Jack to make sure his mother didn't look like an idiot.

13 Things We Order From Market Day (Thursday Thirteen #2)

It would appear that the Thursday Thirteen site is down. But, I will go ahead and post mine anyway. You know, I want it to become a habit, and I have already said my peace about habits.

Thirteen things We Like to Order From Market Day Well...first let me say, if you are unfamiliar with Market Day, it is kind of like Schwan's, although you go pick up your own stuff at a local school or the like (it is a fundraiser program). Although, I think the cost is a lot more reasonable than Schwans. But, the first time I ordered, I had no idea what to get. So, here are some of the things that my family has enjoyed, complete with links to the Market Day site for more descriptions/prices (prices only if you log in with an account).

1. Teriyaki ChicNSteaks

2. Vegetable Fried Rice

3. French Toast Sticks

4. Breakfast Quesadillas (no link, because they aren't available again for a few months)

5. Broccoli Florets

6. Supersweet Corn

7. Chicken Fries (though I can't stand the smell of them, but that's just me)

8. Funnel Cakes

9. Potato Skins

10. Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cakes

11. Chop House Cheeseburgers

12. French Dip

13. Teriyaki Steak Kabobs (no link, as they are also not on the site right now)

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WFMW: Choosing and Simplifying Your Wardrobe

Now, before I start, let me say that I am no fashion maven. Heck, I am likely even a fashion flunkie.

But, I am a fashion flunkie who has taken notes, and managed to pick up some tips that even I can use.

First tip (and this is one I actually *do* use) and can say it is quite nice. You need to find a neutral color that works for you. Black, dark navy, brown, cream, grey, the like. Find one that you think compliments you well, and declare that to be YOUR neutral color.

Okay, hang on -- I lied. I don't use this very well, as I have chosen both black and brown. So sue me. Black and brown are pretty much my staples for my wardrobe. Okay, so we've established that I'm a cheater. So be it.

Anyway, here are some great pieces to have in your wardrobe in YOUR neurtral (I actually do have several of these in both of my neutrals, and know that this is an area to keep working on):

1 jacket (try on several styles and lengths to see what works best for your shape)

2 pairs of pants (it's best to have them in different cuts/styles)

1 skirt (again -- go for your most flattering length)

2 - 3 knit tops (yeah, yeah -- like before, try to go with different styles on these)

1 dress

And, then this was an idea that I heard elsewhere and embraced (kind of, anyway) -- then try to find two colors that compliment you well, and that compliment each other when worn together. Make these your colors, and it will simplify your shopping.

For instance, I know when I go shopping, I can completely not even look at things that aren't in the colors that I buy. I don't even have to browse through anything red, yellow, or orange. Not even for a second. (Well -- except I think I will buy red Crocs eventually, but that doesn't really count.)

I know that when I am shopping, I'm basically looking for earthy colors. I am keeping my eye out basically only for black, brown, purple (on the deeper side of the color -- sometimes almost jewel colored), and then green (usually more along the lines of an earthy green/olive green).

I do have to admit, I don't where purple and green together, so it doesn't fit the rule. But, I get to cheat again because of having a couple of neutral colors, right? (Plus, I do cheat in that, as long as the tones are right, I wear black and brown clothes together -- like a cute second hand brown jacket that looks good with a black shirt underneath, and then the black jacket I got for Christmas that looks good with a particular brown shirt I have.)

From your coordinating colors, I am told that it is good to have:

1 jacket

1 sweater

1 pair of pants

3 - 4 knit tops

It's also good to have a white shirt, or in my case, a couple, since I am very hard on shirts. (I swear it's not a meal if I haven't dropped food on myself.)

When you shop like this and have a wardrobe like this, then you don't need too many pieces to have a large amount of outfit choices to choose from.

Oh...and if your shoe collection is like mine that consists mainly of tennis shoes and Crocs, make sure you pick up at least a few pairs of shoes that range from dressy to dress casual. Even some shoes that make jeans look better than just throwing on some tennis shoes.

And honestly, though I mostly wear my Crocs, I *do* actually have probably about 10 pairs of shoes, including a few different types of sandals, some Mary Jane type of shoes, some chunky dress shoes, flats, etc. Many of them I rarely wear, but they are all ones that I grab from time to time.

It may not be a surprise to share that I believe apart from Crocs and tennis shoes, ever pair of shoes I own are either brown or black.

I suppose I have put the cart before the horse here. I think I should have talked about clearing out your closet first, in order to take stock of what is right for you, and what needs to go.

Perhaps another time.

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted at Rocks in my Dryer and features tips for everything under the sun! Check it out!

Wordless Wednesday: View From The Back of The Van

Apparently this is what the view from the back of the van looks like to an eight year old. (Seriously though -- what in the world was I doing with my arm???)

Wordless Wednesday is hosted at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Lincoln was a blinkin'

Noah was so excited to bring home a book today from school about what life would be like if you lived at the time of Abraham Lincoln.

Well...except it kept calling him Abe Lincoln.

We read through about half of it tonight, and plan to read through the rest tomorrow. Surprisingly, all three of the kids sat around to listen to the approximately one page answers to whether they would have gone to school if they were kids when "Abe" Lincoln was, what kinds of foods they would have eaten, and what kinds of games they may have played with friends.

They were just eating this story up, so that was fun.

After we put it away, Molly said, "We'll read it again tomorrow!"

Then, she made up a song about the book, and I realized that the story was a little over her three year old awareness.

"A blinkin', a blinkin', a blinkin'," she sang.

Apparently Abe Lincoln sounds a whole lot like something country folk might be apt to do if they got a little dust in their eye.

This is precisely why a habit needs to be a habit (aka this is not Menu Plan Monday)

I like Menu Plan Monday. Seriously, I do.

I have made it a habit to go through my list of what meals we have available to us (I plan about a month of meals at a time, and then work from that list when I am making my weekly plan) each Sunday night after the kids have gone to bed, and I plan what we will be eating for the week.

It's a habit. It's a good thing.

The bad thing about good habits is that just one time of not doing them puts you at risk of stopping that good habit all together, or at least for a while.

This isn't just about menu planning, it's any good habit. For instance, I was talking to someone I know from my parish. They inquired about my Mass attendance, perhaps hoping that I would fess up to not going to Mass regularly and then they could feel better for not going. They said it was great that we went every single week, as well as Holy Days of Obligation. They then said that they were doing well going every single week, and then missed a couple of times. And then, it was hard to get back to going.

It's a dangerous thing to break a good habit.

Thus it is with me and the menu planning. It didn't plan last week, and of course, what did we do for meals? We ate some at home (thanks for my larger monthly list at least), but we ate a whole lot of meals from out. Bad, bad, bad.

What did I do last night then? Well...it wasn't menu planning, I can assure you that.

Yes, I broke that good habit.

So, now I have to pray for the strength to actually sit down and do some menu planning tonight. I seriously need to get this good habit back!

Prayer from Mother Teresa

A few months ago, things were really crazy. We were having some issues with people we knew, and it was really getting Eric and I down. Plus, things just in general were busy. It was overwhelming.

At the height of feeling overwhelmed with it all, I used a certain bathroom on our church's campus that I had never used before. I found this prayer that I had never heard before taped to the inside of the bathroom door. I suspect it was the Holy Spirit, not my bladder, that urged me into that bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

-Mother Teresa

Oh my! Sock puppets performing Barenaked Ladies Song!

I saw this on another blog, and I thought it was hilarious. I'm apparently easily amused though.



H/T to Kelli

I received a cease and desist email today!

Wow! Imagine my surprise!

No, seriously -- this is not me trying to be clever. I honestly received a cease and desist email this morning.

It would appear that if there is someone you don't like who is a direct sales consultant for a certain kitchen products company (not saying their name here on my blog now, but let's just say that I'm sure that you and every Jane, Susie, and Olive have been invited to a party at someone's home. Heck, even my good friend Hampered Jeff has been invited to his fair share of parties for these kitchen goodies), well, then you simply need to post online somewhere that you think will get some hits to their direct ordering site.

You see, I have mentioned this company a lot on my blog. I know this because I had to search my blog for their name, and now their name only appears on my blog as {name of company from whom I received a cease and desist email}. I really do like their products, and as an extra bonus, one of my favorite people in the world is one of their hardest working consultants. So, it has always been my pleasure to help her earn a living, while buying products I enjoyed. (Heck -- I even had a $1000+ party last summer!)

Apparently I made a huge error in my judgement by going so far as to post the site on my favorite consultant last week on Works for Me Wednesday instead of posting to their general site. Because of my action in doing this, my favorite consultant got threatened that they were going to remove her ability to have online sales. Seriously -- I posted the link because I wanted to. Not only did she not ask me to do it, she didn't even know I did it. But then if I didn't remove the link, they were going to punish her.

I have to admit that I don't have any snappy ending to this rant. Although, I will admit that I'm pretty mad that I'm still going to buy some cookware that I have been wanting from {name of company from whom I received a cease and desist email} because that was my whole reasoning to have a catalog party.

And, even if {name of company from whom I received a cease and desist email} want to threaten my favorite consultant, I won't. So, I'll still place my order, even though it burns me up that this company will benefit from my money. The only thing that gives me comfort is that my favorite consultant will benefit from it from it as well.

Sorry to my favorite consultant for causing you a headache. It was with my best intentions, and even though I still don't think that you broke any rules, I support you and have removed all the links and mentions. Thanks for being such a fabulous consultant!

13 Reasons I Love My Husband (Thursday Thirteen #1)

I had been wanting to try out the Thursday 13 for a while, and Valentine's Day seemed like the perfect time to start!

Thirteen things about Why I Love My Husband

1. He is funny. Sometimes he is funny in a silly way, and sometimes in a way that makes me gasp and say, "ERIC!" (But, I still laugh, even during those times.)

2. He is a good father. Heck -- he's a great father! He has never hesitated to jump right in with raising the kids, and sees every parenting responsibility as part of his "job description." Not only has he always done his fair share of diaper changes, but he was also the very first one of us to change each of our kids' diapers.

3. He knows when to admit that he is wrong and apologize. This sometimes is to me, and sometimes it's to the kids if he over reacted or didn't wait to listen to a whole story before trying to dole out punishment. He doesn't like to admit he was wrong (who does?), but he is willing to do it when appropriate. I think that will help the kids to grow up knowing that we all must admit we are wrong from time to time.

4. We like a lot of the same movies and music. And, to be kind, he doesn't advance the song on the iPod when we are listening to it on speakers when it is something he definitely doesn't like, such as the Cure or the Violent Femmes.

5. He's so darn cute!

6. He always wants me to drive whichever vehicle he thinks will be safest during any particular weather condition.

7. He went to Goodwill to shop last time he needed new clothes, only because I urged him to. Although he hadn't wanted to go, he tried to keep an open mind, and he ended up finding lots of new things!

8. He is a good Christian man. His faith (both in belief and practice) is wonderful, and sets a good example for everyone in our household. As he has grown stronger in his faith (as have I), our marriage has become even stronger than it ever was.

9. Speaking of faith, he was sweet enough to hold Molly during much of the Mass last week, and even took her out of the nave when she was getting to be a fussypants. This allowed me the chance to actually pay attention during the Mass.

10. He loves his job, and is enthusiastic about it.

11. He is good with my family. They all love him, and he loves them all. He has always fit in well with my family, and generally enjoys being with them.

12. He will try vegetables that he doesn't like, just because I grew them in the garden.

13. We can "talk" to each other across a room just by a certain look or gesture. These are sometimes to tell each other stomething funny or sometimes to beg for help.

Seriously...I could list a million other reasons, but Thursday Thirteen ends here.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Works for Me Wednesday: Reusable Shopping Bags

Be sure to check out lots of great tips on Works for Me Wednesday. Although usually hosted at Rocks in my Dryer, you'll find it this week at Don't Try This at Home.

First, let me share this posting as a secondary "Works for Me" idea -- I posted pictures and a review of the book that I ordered through Blurb.com of my blog entries! Be sure to check out the posting if this is something you have ever thought of.

Okay...so now let me talk about reusable shopping bags!

I only recently finally bought reusable shopping bags, and I just love them! I love that I am not bringing all kinds of plastic bags home with me, and I love that all of the bags that I own hold WAY more than a single plastic (or paper) bag.

I bought three bags from Skeeda.com (my Mom ended up buying one of them from me), and then I also bought a five pack of bags from Greeksak.com (plus a small bag for Eric to keep in his car).

Of course, they also seem to sell bags (which remind me more of the Greensak bags) at every grocery store and mega mart very inexpensively as well, so that's another great place to pick them up. (I know our Walmart sells them for $1/bag.)

I just love that I am not bringing home bag after bag -- cluttering up my house (because we never re-use as many plastic bags as we bring home) and hurting the environment.

I got the Skeeda bags first. I LOVE the design of these. They are cute and hip. The size of the bags (as listed on their website) are: 17" wide x 14 1/2" high with a 3" gusset 11 1/2" handles (fits over your shoulder). These hold quite a lot of groceries -- at least 3 times that of a regular bag. However, my one issue with these bags is that the bottoms are not flat. This has caused me some issues (and cashiers issues) when trying to load the bags. I always have to load my own groceries in these, since they just won't sit up for the cashiers. Oh...and, I would be remiss not to mention that they are $15/bag.

Now, onto the Greensak bags. My only complaint about these is that I didn't really care for the strong smell of these. But, I am sensitive to that kind of thing. As listed on their website, here are their measurements: Height: 13 1/4 inches, Width: 12 3/4 inches, Gussett: 8 3/4 inches. I love the size of these, and how easily they fold up. I also love that not only are the bottoms flat (for easy loading), but they also have a removable plastic piece for the bottom that make them even easier to load. I bought a set of 5 of these bags for $18, although in retrospect, I wish I had purchased the 10 pack for $32. (As a matter of fact, I am going to pick up another set of five, just so I can do my monthly grocery shopping without needing any plastic/paper bags.)

Reusable bags are not only easier to carry and hold me, but darn it -- I feel good every single time I use them!

Ash Wednesday Reflection...Just a Little Late

Yes, I am aware that Ash Wednesday was almost an entire week ago. But, I want to talk about it anyway.

Ash Wednesday is something that we have actively participated in long before we were Catholic. As Episcopalians, we also were able to go to church on Ash Wednesday and receive ashed on our forehead. I will admit though, we rarely went. I would say in my whole life prior to the last couple of years, I went just a hand full of times (and at least one of those was a year that I had to be an acolyte [like an altar server] for that service).

Last year, when we went forward to receive ashes, it was exciting. We were into our last season before actually joining the church, and it felt like one of the first times where we were fully participating in something with the rest of the church (although I'm sure that wasn't really true).

This year was considerably different, although we found that when we spoke after Mass, Eric and I had the same feelings.

For one thing, this year, we didn't leave during the Mass, of course. This also meant that we were able to stay with our kids, instead of having to leave them with our sponsors.

More importantly though, we were so taken with how full the church was. The pews were packed, the balcony was full, the back of the church had people standing throughout it, and then people ended up standing in some of the aisles. This meant, of course, that come time of ashes, it was almost like a clown car -- people just kept coming and coming and coming.

We were taken by the sheer number of people. Although our parish is typically pretty full for Masses, it still felt a little different last Wednesday night.

What we were most taken by was seeing the people who filed past us on their way back to their seats (or where they were standing in the back). We saw a tiny baby with ashes on his forehead that caught both of our attention. Then, we couldn't help but notice all of the ages and types of people walking by. Each of them, no matter how different they were from us, were connected to us by that cross on their forehead.

I have been so in love with our new faith since joining the church, and love the feeling of being part of something larger than I can really put my finger on.

And, as I sat watching all those people stream by, my heart was full, and I thanked God for bringing us to where we are right now.

My Review -- A Book of My Blog Entries from Blurb.com

Ever since I started blogging, my intention had been to print out blog entries, and put them together in a binder or the like. For a while, I was doing a good job printing them out, but then I got a back log of entries that needed to be printed.

Finally -- I resolved to print them all out. But, then I heard about the company Blurb.com. I wish I could give credit to which blog I read about them on, but now I can't remember. Sorry!

I was drawn to Blurb.com because they have a mechanism for specifically printing out books of blog entries. (By the way, they also can print lots of other books, such as books for photography, recipe books, etc. -- it's really worth a trip over to their website. Plus, you'll get to see nicer pictures of the books that I personally took of my book.)

So, anyway...I downloaded their free software, and started in on a book of my blog entries from December 2006 (when I started my blog) through December 2007, since I had decided that maybe I would like to include a year at a time in a book.

The software was easy to use, and the blog books are compatable with most of the main stream blogging hosts. You just put in your username and password, and wait while it downloads all of your text and pictures.

I liked that I was easily able to tell it which blog entries I wanted posted and which ones I didn't. Actually, the default was to print them all, and then I was able to go through and uncheck the ones that I didn't really want in. I did have about 99% of the blog entries printed though. I only deleted things like about such and such blog having a contest or whatnot.

Even so, if I had one of those kinds of posts that had more information in it, then I sometimes printed them. But, a nice option is that you can edit your postings once you are working on your book.

This editing came in handy (although it did add quite a bit of time to what I put into it) because it appeared to default to putting one entry per page. I don't know if there is a way to have it fit as much as it can on a page, or if one entry per page is the only option.

However, since I didn't want a HUGE book, I took the time to get as much on a page as possible. This meant a lot of cutting and pasting. But, I didn't really mind, and it gave me extra time to really get the book looking like I wanted it to look.

They have various size options available, but I went with the 8x10 portrait size. They have 7x7, 8x10, 10x8, and 13x11. The prices vary based on size, as well as number of pages. You can read about the breakdown on this page, where they have listed number of pages by size and cover type.

You also have the choice with most sizes between soft cover and hardcover. Eric said as long as I was spending the money, I needed to just spend the extra $6 difference and get it in hardcover. I'm glad that I went with that option now, as I like the way it looks better and think it will stand up over time better.

This is the cover of my book. It also has my name under the pictures, but I took that off for showing it here. Hardcover books come with a dust jacket. The dust jacket is the only thing I was slightly disappointed with, and that was only because the printing is just a little bit off. Neither Eric nor my Mom noticed this, and it is not visable in this picture. However, in person, it is not as sharp as I would want it. But, it wasn't really all that big of a deal.

This is what most of my pages look like. Because I apparently don't have a tendency to use a lot of pictures (something I would perhaps like to do a little more of), my pages are mostly text. But, I am okay with that.

On the right hand page above, you can see that I added a short blog entry (still keeping them in chronological order) to the bottom of that page. This helped cut down my book length by over 100 pages.

Here is one spread that ended up with pictures for both of the pages. I like the way that looked too. On these pages (shown), I didn't try to fit in extra blog entries. However, near the end, I did have some pages that had pictures where I did add unrelated blog entries to those as well, and they still looked fine.

Although the pictures don't look great in my picture, they are actually very nice in the book!

As a matter-of-fact, ALL of the pages look great. Even though I was slightly disappointed with the dust jacket, I thought the actual book contents looked amazing!

Above is the back of the dust jacket. (There is also printing on the spine of the dust jacket. I now wish that I had put "Volume 1" as part of the title, but I will just remember a volume number for next year!)

Oh, and again ignore the bright white spot. That's just where my name is on the back. I really liked that I had space to write on the back.

I really think my book is just great! I definitely have plans to continue using Blurb.com to print blog books! I spent $39.95 (plus shipping) for my book, which is hardcover and 142 pages (thanks to all my time in shortening the book length through copying and pasting).

When I received this book, we took the time as a family for me to go through it and read funny things that had happened to us over the past year aloud. It helped to reinforce to me that I am blogging to record our family's life. We laughed and remembered things that had happened -- often they were things that were long since forgotten. Except, well, with this book now, they don't have to be forgotten.

This book reminded me that while it's easy to get caught up in comments, blog traffic, and how good other people's blogs are, this blog is for me and my family. I love that others stop by and I have had so many opportunities to meet wonderful bloggers, but my purpose was reflected in this book, and that warmed my heart.

Okay now, I have a confession -- I like the book so much that I don't think I can wait for next year for another one, and I may even have to find an excuse to have another book printed. Not sure what it will be about (maybe photographs), but I am sure that whatever it is, it will look fabulous if I use Blurb.com!

*Please note: I did not receive any incentive to write this review. This was just simply because I was so pleased with my own purchase, and wanted to share this company with people who may be unfamiliar with it.